Watch first Snowden trailer: Whistle-blower mocks NSA on Twitter

The first trailer of political thriller Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is out. If the 2.39 minute-long trailer is anything to go by, the movie seems to be fast-paced, action-packed and chaotic.

Academy-winning director Oliver Stone, whose directing opus includes Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July and George W Bush biographical drama W, is the mastermind behind this sensational thriller. The movie recreates the story of Edward Snowden, who went from being an aspiring Special Forces member to a fugitive living in Russia under political asylum. In the movie, Shailene Woodley features as Snowden's long-term girlfriend Lindsay Mills, while Nicolas Cage plays an unnamed government official.

In less than 24 hours, the trailer has been viewed over a million times, more after the real Snowden tweeted the video saying: "For two minutes and 39 seconds, everybody at NSA just stopped working."

The movie tells the infamous story of the National Security Agency's whistle-blower, who worked as a private contractor. The US began a manhunt for the polarising figure in 2013 after he worked with journalists to leak shocking details of the NSA's illegal surveillance activities.

"Think of it as a Google search, except instead of searching everything people make public, we're also looking at everything they don't," an NSA man tells a shocked Levitt in the trailer.

"There's something going on inside the government that's really wrong and I can't ignore it," Snowden is heard saying.

The high on tension trailer begins on the note "Run, Hide, Live". Stone touches the top notes of thrill with the sex scene featuring Snowden and his girlfriend and the consequent realisation that everyone's being watched all the time. Ultimately, when the whistle-blower's identity is revealed — with an unnerving phone call — Snowden is on the run to live and tell the biggest secret.